Motion fails to dismiss blood alcohol evidence in fatal crash
Apr. 29—GREILICKVILLE — A driver's preliminary breath test and blood alcohol level will be used in a case involving the death of a Lake Leelanau woman and her dog.
On Friday afternoon in 86th District Court in Leelanau County, Judge Michael Stepka heard arguments from both sides as to whether Christen Kelly Landry, 52, of Lake Leelanau, had been able to consent to a blood draw the night Evelyn Kellogg, 43, and her dog were struck and killed.
But Landry's attorneys' motion to suppress her blood work from further proceedings was thrown out by the court.
Landry is facing charges of operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol, causing death. If convicted, she will face up to 15 years in prison, according to Section 257.625 of the Michigan Vehicle Code.
She has pleaded not guilty.
Stepka ultimately ruled that Landry was able to consent, and that the preliminary breath test and blood work taken by a Michigan State Police trooper at the scene of the crash are valid evidence.
Two weeks ago, on April 14, c ounty prosecutors Joe Hubbell and Tristan Chamberlain, and Landry's defense attorneys, Jesse Williams and Michael Naughton, questioned the trooper, Jason Tropf, who responded to the crash.
On Dec. 8, at 7:30 p.m., Landry is suspected of hitting Kellogg, who was walking her dog on East Linguar Road, according to the state police accident report.
According to Tropf, at the time of the crash, Landry's blood alcohol content was 0.084, which is 0.004 higher than the legal limit of 0.08.
The first time Tropf spoke to Landry, he asked her if she was distracted.
"I initially asked her what had caused the accident this evening and asked her if she had been operating a cellphone, if anything had diverted her attention," he said on the stand previously. "She told me that she might have been adjusting her heat."
In addition to failing her preliminary breath test and subsequent breath test, Landry also failed a field sobriety test, which is called a horizontal gaze nystagmus test that was administered by Tropf.
In this test, he said, law enforcement measures the involuntary jerking of the eyes.
The argument between the two sides boiled down to whether Landry was in the right frame of mind to consent to these tests after the crash had occurred, and if Tropf had followed standard procedure by asking her questions about her sobriety.
During Friday's hearing, Stepka said he could see in Tropf's dash camera footage how illuminated Kellogg was on the road.
"She was so illuminated, it almost looked like her jacket, or the vest that she was wearing, was glowing," he said.
According to Tropf's dash camera video, there were no skid marks on the road after the crash. Landry told Tropf at the time that she had not seen Kellogg before she hit her.
"Given the degree of illumination, which seemed to be a lot, well, was a lot, that she was distracted or impaired or both," Stepka said. "She did tell him [Tropf] that she was looking down at her heater or adjusting the heat and didn't see Miss Kellogg."
In addition to that moment, Stepka said he also considered Landry's admission to using alcohol that night and the failed field sobriety test to make his ruling.
"So you've got these things that seem to convince the trooper that he had a reasonable suspicion that she might be impaired," he said.
Because of all of those other factors, Stepka said, he did not agree with the motion presented by Landry's defense team, and dismissed it.
Her next court date, for a preliminary examination, will be set sometime soon, Stepka said.
